The Autobot's face was wracked with pangs of concentration and fear of loosing. His next move would be the difference between victory and defeat. One of the advantages, Shockwave noted, of not having an expressive face: even if he indulged his emotions, no one could see it. No one knew what he was thinking, no one knew if he was confident or if he had doubts. Finally his opponent made his move, shooting his arm forward. Shockwave stood ready for anything from Prowl.
"Asteroid to cube 13-10-1."
Members of the crowd around them oohed and aahed, most notably a scientist known as Jetfire who Shockwave had met once, at Megatron's rallies. The white flyer leaned over to no doubt explain the significance of the move to Megatron himself, who nodded in understanding. Arena fights were hardly the interest of Shockwave, but meetings afterwards held the seeds of what Shockwave fervently believed to be the future; the end of the reign of the pseudo-religious. Prowl was one of the worst of them all, being the right-hand lieutenant of the current Prime.
No, Shockwave was no barbarian who reveled in the sight of seeing fuel spilled. He was more engaged by the strategic game Quantum, and in his spare time he had gained some notoriety amongst the small niche of Cybertronians who also played. This championship against the one mech who was said to rival him had been vorns in the making.
He pondered what to do next. Should he sacrifice a dwarf planet to save a sun? Should he withdraw his meteor? Increasing his orbit speed would be shrewd. Or perhaps a more aggressive approach was in order, repositioning an asteroid against Prowl's gas giant.
Then, he saw it. Shockwave immediately capitalized on a weakness that Prowl had left open, sending a meteor colliding with a moon orbiting Prowl's second planet. The resulting destruction of the moon destabilized the planet's orbit, realigning his entire system. Unfortunately, Prowl had arranged his fortifications in such a way that the alterations did not leave his pieces as unguarded as he had hoped.
Shockwave did not want to lose. He was not worried for his ego, since such a thing was the concern of a lesser mind. But this was more than just a game to him. It was logical that if Megatron's movement was to flourish, it would need the aid of intellectuals. They could not bring change to Cybertron through brute force alone. He had deduced that they needed his aid, but first he needed to win their trust. He needed to prove himself. And if he could defeat the Autobot's chief tactician in a simple game, then by extension he could also defeat him in actual warfare.
Prowl's next move destroyed the ice giant at the edge of his system—exactly as Shockwave had hoped for. He had deliberately placed it as far away from his sun as possible, but guarded it well: making it look like an easy target that could not be resisted, yet not making it look so easy as to let Prowl suspect his ploy. Chunks of the ice planet went flying toward Prowl's system, leveling his primary planet. The game was Shockwave's.
After a few more obligatory rounds, the championship was called and Shockwave was declared the cycle's Quantum Master—a title that was so trivial to many, including him. But it was also a title that sealed Megatron's confidence in him. As he left the stadium, he exchanged a glance with the arena fighter. Soon, they would be winning much more significant contests with the Autobots.